In their last home game of the season, Haddington faced local rivals Ross High at Neilson Park on Saturday that saw a game with plenty of action, including four yellow cards and two red cards.

The Reds coaches had made some changes to the forward pack from the Linlithgow game, with Joss Arnold getting a call up to the Scotland U'18 training camp this weekend, Aarron Thomson moved from prop to second-row. Hugo Elder switched from second-row into the back-row and Rob Mcluckie returned from injury to take his place on the bench.

In the backs, Alex Peace made his return to the 1st XV team in place of the injured Jamie Paterson. In the centres, Ewan Cunningham returned from an injury sustained in the warm-up at the North Berwick game to reclaim the inside-centre shirt. Andy Durkin switched to outside-centre in place of Kyle Hamilton who was unfortunately ill

The Reds opted to play up the hill in the first half. Ross High were first out of the blocks scoring after only seven minutes of play gone. The away team used their forward pack strength to maul their way over the try line. Ross High stand-off, Murray Jack converted to make the scores 0-7.

Shortly after, Haddington were awarded a penalty just outside the Ross High 10-meter line and Captain Connor Munro opted to go for the posts. Unfortunately, Nick Bell wasn't on target after the ball bounced of the uprights and Ross High cleared their lines (0-7).

It was Ross High who drew blood next with an almost carbon copy try of their first one. With the line-out won, their powerful pack controlled the ball at the back of the maul and crossed the try line. Murray Jack was on hand again to convert for the away side (0-14).

Haddington didn't have to wait long to finally get on the scoreboard. With quick ball from the ruck, Nick Bell was able to feed his backline and Ben Moffat picked a fantastic gap in the Ross High defence to go through under the sticks. Nick Bell converted to reduce the Ross High lead to 7-14.

With 10 minutes of the first half left, both Haddington and Ross High exchanged tries and the half ended 12-19 to the away side.

Now playing back down the hill, the Reds knew they would need to score first in order to reverse the Ross High momentum. However, Haddington were reduced down to 14 men after Colin Stuart was yellow carded. With play now in Ross High's 22-meter line, the home side were awarded a penalty after it was deemed Ross High were offside. Opting for the corner, the lineout was won and the forwards provided a fantastic platform for the backs. Ewan Cunningham set off on a darting run and offloaded to winger James Dewar. Dewar was able to beat a couple of the Ross High defenders and score out wide. Bell was unable to add the extra 2-points. 17-19.

Ross High were next to score with the away team opting to head back down the blind-side in the Reds 22-meter line. With the advantage, quick ball was recycled and the away team popped up over the Haddington try line. Unfortunately for Haddington, it was a double blow as Connor Munro was also yellow carded. Now down to 13 men, Ross High led 17-24.

On the 70-minute mark, Haddington were awarded a penalty on the Ross High 22-meter line and Nick Bell stepped up to reduce the Ross High lead down to 20-24.

With the clock now deep into injury time, Haddington were awarded another penalty against 14-man Ross High who had a man in the bin. The Reds opted to kick to the corner. The lineout was won and the ball popped out the back to the Haddington backline. Similar to his last minute winning try against Broughton earlier in the season, Freddie Cunningham managed to barge his way through the Ross High defence and score under the posts to win the match for Haddington. Nick Bell added the extras to make the final score 27-24 to Haddington.

This was a great advert for East Lothian rugby with both teams playing some fantastic running rugby to keep the large crowd entertained. Unfortunately, the end of the game saw two red cards shown, one to Ross High and one to Haddington.

Thank you must go to our match day sponsors Donald and Bob Snodgrass, Graeme Dykes, Mark Morrison, Campbell Terito and Rhodri Thomas. Match ball sponsor was Andy McBain. Thank you all for your continued support.

After his heroic performance in the line-out, Rab Watt (sponsored by Alex Watt) was awarded the Man of the Match.

We now take another break from league action, but we host touring side CYM from Dublin on Saturday 11th of March to play for the Friendship Cup. Please keep an eye out on our website and social media pages for further details.